Текст книги "Favor for a Friend"
Автор книги: Kate Kane
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Lane moved her hands from around his neck and took his hand. She badly wanted to say the hell with whomever it was and just kiss him again and so she leaned across the console and gently brushed her lips against his. Then she moaned again before she moved her lips next to his ear. She licked his ear lobe and purred, "So that explains your mood all morning." She leaned back and twisted in her seat so she could fasten her seat belt.
Ben sat staring at her. Waiting to wake up. Good God, had she just purred in his ear? He swore he had the biggest erection he'd ever had in his life and did she just purr in his ear? She reached over, straightened the collar of his shirt, and then tapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, fasten your seatbelt. We've got to get on the road." Sure, they needed to get on the road, the sooner they got on the road, the sooner they could stop again, the sooner they stopped again, the sooner he could kiss her again. He could work with this.
"There's just one thing I need before we can move. I think I might need just one more, small kiss before I can make the SUV move."
Lane laughed. "Umm hum, I wasn't born yesterday. One small kiss leads to one bigger kiss which leads to another and the next thing I know we've spent half an hour at the rest stop."
Ben groaned.
She turned toward him. "You promise just one small kiss and then we'll be on our way?"
He nodded as he leaned toward her and brushed his lips lightly over hers. He fastened his seat belt and put the SUV in reverse. "Okay, on the road."
Lane hit play on the stereo; they were streaming Ben's Frank Sinatra station on Pandora. She was greeted with Frank Sinatra singing, "I Could Write a Book.”
Chapter 7
Seek and you shall find
Tanner had given Ben an address in an older industrial area near Twelfth and Grand, which Ben had programmed into his GPS so he had no trouble finding Tanner. He parked the Navigator and Tanner quickly opened the back door.
“So I talked to a contact on the Saint Louis force.” He said as he took a seat behind Lane. “They suspect that drug traffickers are using abandoned warehouses in the area to store meth and other drugs as they make their way to the streets.”
Ben and Lane were both silent as Tanner continued. “I’ve been here all night, staking out the three block radius you gave Ben.” He said looking toward Lane, then turning toward Ben, he continued, “It’s been a quiet night. I found the kid’s truck.” He said, and then directed Ben to drive a few blocks away where a Chevy Silverado with Nebraska plates sat in an alley.
“It’s locked up tight.” Tanner said, “You want me to slim-jim it?”
Lane looked from Ben to Tanner. “Slim-jim? Like those sausage things?”
The men both laughed. “No, a slim-jim is a device that car thieves, law enforcement, and tow truck drivers use to open a locked car door.” Ben explained.
“Before you do that, I have an app on my phone that allows remote access to a locked vehicle. If Maggie has Jeff’s keys, she can download it, and we can get into the car by less – mmm – shall we say shady means?”
Lane called Maggie to see if she had Jeff's keyless entry fob. And, after getting an affirmative answer, she explained that if Maggie clicked the unlock button into her cell phone that Lane could point her cell phone at Jeff's truck and voila, magically the doors would open. It took a couple of tries, but soon Tanner and Ben were heading toward the truck while Lane stayed in the Navigator and talked on the phone to Maggie.
"There's some good news." Tanner said as he and Ben searched the vehicle. "First, there's no blood anyplace in sight, and secondly, Jeff's cell phone isn't in the vehicle. Hopefully that means it's with him."
Ben looked back to his SUV where Lane sat. "Yeah, let's hope that's what it means. Before we go back, tell me, you've been here all night, if we have to do a building by building search, where should we start?"
Tanner ran his hand over the back of his neck. "I think he’s inside this building and it’s got a for sale sign on the front. Maybe you could get the real estate broker to meet you and your investor. You and Lane could grab lunch meet the real estate broker back here in an hour or two. In the meantime, I’ll keep tabs on the place."
Ben nodded and walked back to talk to Lane. She put her phone on speaker so Maggie could hear as Ben related the plan. Then Ben called the broker and arranged to meet him at the building in two hours. They dropped Tanner back at his vehicle which was parked across the street and down the block from the warehouse.
When Ben and Lane returned to the warehouse, Ben unlocked the console and removed a 9mm handgun. Lane just looked at him as he inserted a clip and put the gun in a holster he had clipped on his belt at the small of his back, and then reached in the back seat for his sport coat.
Who is this guy and when did he start carrying a gun? Lane wondered.
"We don't know what to expect in there, Red. Better be safe."
Unable to speak, as though she was suddenly mute, Lane just looked at him. Yeah, Ben with a loaded gun, safe.
Ben opened his door, walked around, and opened Lane’s door. They walked to the building and met a muscular man who was about five feet seven inches tall, and had dark hair combed back from his face.
Ben reached out his hand. "Joe Parillo? Ben Bellini with Luciano and Bellini." The men shook hands and Ben motioned to Lane. "This is my client Mrs. Parker." Lane shook the man's hand. He had a firm grip and something about him gave her the creeps.
Mr. Parillo unlocked the door and motioned them in. "Mrs. Parker, what are you planning to use the building for?" He asked as they entered the warehouse. Before Lane could say anything, Ben said, "Mrs. Parker's not prepared to discuss her plans at this time. What are the zoning restrictions?" Ben continued to carry on a conversation, asking about Interstate access, and square footage, as he maneuvered them into one of the offices near the entrance; he worked his way deeper into the building. It was a two-story building and he knew as soon as they were away from the entrance door, Tanner would be in the building so he could work his way to the second floor. Ben kept his left hand on Lane's back as they walked; knowing that at the first sign of trouble, he'd be able to draw his gun and push her behind him where she'd be safe.
They'd been in the building about twenty minutes when his cell phone buzzed, signaling he had a text. He checked it. "Got Jeff – smack se corner 2 flr cld cops go now"
Ben handed his phone to Lane and looked at Joe Parillo. "Thanks, Joe. I think that's all we need today. We're looking at a couple of other places. I'll give you a call sometime next week."
They walked back toward the front of the building. Still keeping his hand on Lane's back, Ben hung back letting Joe walk in front of them. Joe is either ignorant about the drugs & kidnapping or he’s a good actor. Ben thought and he’d bet that it was ignorance not good acting; he'd been too willing to let them move around the building.
As they exited the building two men in suits, who flashed badges and addressed Ben and Lane by name met them. "Mr. Bellini, Mrs. Parker, we got a call from Roy Tanner."
Ben nodded and held up his hands. "Hello, detectives. I have a glock in a holster in the small of my back." He turned so the detective could get his gun. "I have a permit to carry concealed. It's in my wallet, left breast pocket."
Lane hadn't said ten words in the last twenty minutes and she just stood by dumbfounded as the detectives patted down both Ben and Mr. Parillo. She was surprised to find that Mr. Parillo also had a gun, however apparently he didn't have a concealed carry permit. At least he hadn't said a word.
The detectives looked at Lane "Mrs. Parker, I'm going to assume there's no need to pat you down."
Lane smiled as one of the detectives continued. "Your friend is alive, but unconscious. We have a bus on the way. We need for you to stay out of the building."
She saw the other detective return Ben's gun as she heard the click of handcuffs and one of the detectives recited the Miranda warning to Mr. Parillo, who indeed had no permit to carry the gun he had in his waistband.
While it seemed longer, it was only minutes later when the EMT's had Jeff, on a gurney with I.V. fluids started, out of the building and were loading him into an ambulance. They asked if Lane wanted to ride with them.
Ben brushed her hair away from her face and lightly kissed her cheek. "Go ahead, Red. Tanner and I have to stay her and chat a bit and I'll see you at the hospital in an hour or so."
Lane got into the ambulance with Jeff, leaving Ben and Tanner to work out the drug mess. After getting the okay from the EMT who rode in the back with her, she called Maggie to let her know they’d found Jeff, that he was dehydrated and unconscious, but his vital signs were strong and they were on their way to the hospital. She promised to call as soon as she knew more. Maggie was anxious to catch the first flight to Saint Louis. Through tears of joy, she said she'd call after she’d made travel arrangements.
The ER doctor checked Jeff over and ordered a CT scan just in case, but said he couldn't find any signs of a head injury. He'd ordered blood tests to be sure Jeff didn’t have drugs in his system and then sent Jeff to a room. Lane stood at the foot of his bed thinking how small and helpless the man, who when standing was six feet tall and athletic, appeared. He had a week's growth of beard on a face that Lane knew he usually kept clean-shaven. He had an IV and oxygen, either of which would make anyone seem helpless. He stirred a bit before opening his eyes. He blinked a couple of times and looked around the room before focusing on Lane.
"Aunt Lane? Where am I?"
Chapter 8
Never trust a stranger
"Hey, Jeff." She said as she patted his foot. "You're in a hospital in Saint Louis. Do you remember anything?" She stepped around to push his buzzer. Both his nurse and the police had said they wanted to know when he regained consciousness.
The nurse came in and asked Lane to step out of the room. It was 9:00 pm now and even though Ben had said he'd see her in a couple of hours, it had been more than four hours since she'd left him at the warehouse. She stepped into the hall and dialed his cell. He answered on the first ring. "Red." She heard an echo and turned to see him walking toward her. She hung up the phone as he swept her into his arms.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
She nodded. "You?"
She told him that Jeff had just regained consciousness and the nurse had kicked her out of the room.
"It's just as well. The police will want to talk to him before anyone else does. Poke your head in and tell them we're going to find the cafeteria."
As they walked to the elevator, he told her what they’d found at the warehouse. “There was actually a couple hundred pounds of meth in the warehouse, and the Saint Louis Police have the building staked out waiting to see who comes to claim it.”
They got into the elevator. “Luckily, Tanner had a contact that he'd called as soon as he'd found Jeff but we had still spent the last several hours giving statements. The police are still questioning Parillo. I’m still not sure if the guy knew about the drugs or not.”
The elevator doors opened and they made their way to the closed cafeteria. “Maggie said she’d call when she finalizes her travel arrangements, but it’s sounding like she can’t get a flight out until 6:00 am tomorrow.”
It was after 9:00 pm on Sunday night, so naturally, they found the cafeteria closed, but they had some vending machines. Ben walked to the Coke machine and inserted a couple of dollars. He looked to Lane and nodded toward the Diet Coke. "No Diet Dr. Pepper. Will a Diet Coke do?" Lane nodded. "Can or bottle?"
Lane looked around and located both a glass and an ice machine. "A can, please. I'm going to grab a glass and some ice. Do you want one?" Ben said he was caffeinated out and was going to grab a bottle of water.
As she sat down at a table, her cell phone rang. She looked a Ben as he approached and mouthed “Maggie.” When she’d hung up, she told him Maggie had confirmed her flight and that she’d arrive tomorrow.
Lane looked across the table at Ben, they'd had a very busy day, and neither of them had spoken a word about what had happened at the rest stop. This was Ben, and she thought of him as her best friend, but others from her daughter Jess to her assistant Meg often asked if she'd ever seen When Harry met Sally inferring that men and women can never be "just friends.” Lane just had trouble getting past the age thing. She was blessed with good genes and no one from the grocery clerk to her hairdresser ever guessed her to be over 35, but she knew the truth. She touched her fingers to her lips. She sure hadn't been thinking about the 12-year age difference when he'd kissed her.
Besides the age difference, Ben's babe magnet status danced in the back of her mind. She often said that every woman in the greater metropolitan area between the ages of 25 and 50 had either gone out with or tried to go out with Ben. He'd dated Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders, politicians, and TV and radio personalities. She'd met a couple of them. He was 36 and had never been married; although there was a woman, he was seeing when she'd first moved to Kansas with whom she thought he'd been serious.
He watched as she ran her fingers across her lips. What is that statistic people quote? The average man thinks about sex every seven seconds. He didn't know about average but that statistic certainly fit him today.
"So, counselor, mind telling me what was up with that gun this afternoon?" She'd been thinking about it off and on since she'd watched him clip that gun on. It was a side of him she'd never seen and while she had felt safe with him in the warehouse, she wasn't about to let the incident go without notice.
"I defend the criminal element, you know that. Sometimes I have to go places where it would be foolish to go unprotected. Maybe I could have mentioned it to you, but I guess I just thought you'd always suspected."
"Maybe I should have, I wondered why the console was locked. Heaven knows I read enough crime fiction that I should have deduced it. It just was a side of you I didn't know existed. It made you seem dangerous in a way, and I've never thought of you as dangerous."
There were many things they'd never discussed. Kansas City was a mob town and he was a first or second generation Italian American, depending on whether you looked at his mother’s or father’s side of the family. Both sides had come from a little island called Sicily. He'd heard rumors about his family being connected his whole life, but it wasn't as if he grew up living scenes from the Godfather. Sure, his father owned an Italian restaurant frequented by other Italian families, but he had no reason to believe his father was "mobbed up."
He ran his fingers over the back of her hand as he spoke. “So, have you spoken to the kids today?”
I talked with Jake earlier; he told me how far west they’d gotten today.” She laughed. “He said they’re still getting along – God knows that being cooped up in a car together can bring out the best or worst in people.”
Bringing out the best or worst. Was that what was happening between the two of them? Lane's cell phone buzzed before she could muse about it any further.
She hung up, explaining that her call was from one of the detectives that they'd met at the warehouse. “They talked with Jeff. They say I can see him now.”
She’d just hung up when Ben's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID as he answered, "Bellini."
Lane stood and picked up her soda can and Ben's water bottle and tilted her head toward the recycling bin. She left Ben alone to have his conversation, tossed the bottle, and can into the appropriate bins. When she returned to the table, Ben was ending his conversation. "That was Tanner. There's some been activity at the warehouse. Someone came to claim the stuff and there was an arrest. I need to go back to the station." He reached into his wallet and offered Lane some cash. "You left your purse in the SUV. It's been hours since we had lunch, and you might want something before I get back."
She took the bills he offered. "Thanks. I'd forgotten all about my purse. Any idea how long you'll be gone? Depending on how Jeff is feeling, I might want to take a cab to the hotel. Maybe I should just go with you to the SUV and get my purse."
Luckily, Ben had made reservations online before they'd left Omaha and they'd checked into the Ritz Carlton before meeting Parillo at the warehouse. He handed her his keys. "Just take the SUV. I'll go upstairs with you. Maybe I can catch a ride with the detective. If not, I'll call Tanner. If he can't pick me up, I'll take a cab to the station." He put his hand in the small of her back and guided her toward the elevators.
When they got to Jeff’s room, Detective Boyer told Lane that even though they'd made an arrest at the warehouse they were stationing a guard outside Jeff's room. “We’ve told the guard that you and Ben are the only people allowed in the room.”
Ben spoke with the detective who agreed to give him a ride to the station.
“What can you tell me about what happened to him?” She asked as they stood just outside Jeff’s room.
The detective smiled. “I’ll let him tell you about it, Mrs. Parker.”
“I’ll see you later at the hotel.” Ben said as he brushed a kiss on Lane's cheek then turned and followed the detective toward the elevators.
Lane nodded a greeting to the uniformed police guard and opened the door to Jeff's room.
"Hi, Jeff."
"Aunt Lane. I suppose you have questions too."
Lane smiled at him. "I sure do, you've been missing for over a week. But, if you're not up to talking, I'll understand. I'll leave it up to you."
"Have you talked to Mom?" He looked younger than his 25 years. She imagined her own son, Jake, lying helpless in a hospital bed.
"Yes. The first flight she could get leaves at 6:00 in the morning. She'll be here before noon tomorrow. Do you want to talk about it, or would you rather wait until Maggie gets here tomorrow?"
Jeff sighed. "Maybe it'll start to make sense the more I talk about it, because it doesn't make a lick of sense to me right now."
Lane sat down in the chair next to his bed and patted his hand. "Let me tell you what I know and you can fill in the blanks. Would that help?"
She told him what Maggie had related about the breakdown of his truck and about Blake talking to the Triple A driver who had jump started his truck, about pinging his phone and finally about Tanner finding him in the warehouse.
"I was in Gretna checking out a building site. I missed my turn to get on the interstate and ended up on a gravel road. My truck died. The battery on my cell was dead too, so I felt pretty lucky that the truck died close to a farmhouse. I walked to it and knocked on the front door. There was no answer, so I went around back and knocked. No answer there either." He paused and took a drink water. “I tried the doors and windows to see if anything was unlocked. You know, so I could go in and use the phone. When I was sure there was no way in, I walked back to my truck and opened the hood."
He gave a little laugh. "I really don't know why, I don't know much about car engines. I had just closed the hood and was wondering how far and in what direction I needed to walk to find a phone. I looked up and saw an SUV had stopped a few feet behind my truck. I walked back to it and a really hot blonde was behind the wheel. She offered to give me a ride.” He smiled. “I remember thinking that I really shouldn't get in a vehicle with a stranger no matter how pretty she was, so I asked if I could just use her cell phone. But, she said she didn't have any bars. And so I got in the SUV with her." He took another drink of water. "She drove me back to Gretna. The gas station didn't have a pay phone, but I was able to buy a charger for my phone. I went into the bathroom to use the electric outlet there to charge it."
Lane had decided just to let Jeff tell his story and she didn't ask any questions.
"After a while, someone banged on the door, so I had to leave the men's room. Luckily, the phone had charged enough for me to call Triple A. I'd gone outside to wait where I found another outlet. That's when I sent Mom the e-mail. I guess I waited about half an hour before the tow truck showed up and gave me a ride back to my truck. He checked everything out and jumped the battery. My truck started, so the guy followed me back to Interstate 80." Jeff took another drink.
"After the jump start, the first thing I did was charge my phone. Since the cops said that's how you found me, I guess I'm glad I did. I headed toward Omaha on Interstate 80. I was only about ten miles away from my house when I saw what I thought looked like the SUV that had stopped and given me a ride. It was totally dark out by then, so I wasn't sure, but I slowed down as I passed it.” He shook his head, and continued. “Sure enough, it was the same girl who'd given me a ride and now her SUV was stopped on the side of the road. I stopped and walked back to talk to her. We had a laugh about karma. I offered her my phone to make a call, but she asked if I'd just give her a ride to her friend's place." Jeff laughed again. "You know what they say about kids and stranger danger? If the kid has seen the person before, the kid doesn't think of them as a stranger. That goes double for guys where a good-looking girl is concerned. I didn't think twice about saying yes. So, I followed her directions to a neighborhood in southwest Omaha. It had been about 15 minutes since I'd picked her up when I'd stopped in front of the house she'd indicated." Jeff smiled sheepishly. "We'd been chatting sorta casually and so I asked for her number, you know? She reached into her purse to get a pen. Only what she came out with was a gun and a syringe. She jabbed me in the thigh. As everything went black, I remember thinking all she had to do was say no." He closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I was out of it a lot. I'd come to, they'd feed me give me something to drink, but mostly I was out of it. Once when they thought I was still out, I thought I heard a couple of guys taking about a meth house. I have no idea how or when I ended up in Saint Louis. I guess they drove me here in my own truck. I have one of those wireless charger pads, you know. Whoever brought me here must have thought my phone was dead still. The police suspect that my truck broke down near a meth house and that they kidnapped me because they thought I'd seen something or could identify someone. Joke's on them. I didn't see a thing."
The poor kid, Lane thought. She knew Interstate 80 was a drug corridor, but that sure didn't explain how or why Jeff had ended up far from Interstate 80 in a warehouse in Saint Louis. She looked at her watch. It was nearing 11:00 and she was sure that Jeff needed to get some rest. She smiled at him.
"Well, Bud, you had some week. Look on the bright side; you have a story to tell your grandkids someday. Did the police tell you they had a guard outside your door?" Jeff nodded. "Bud, you look like you're worn out. You get some sleep. I can stay here if you don't want to be alone." She knew that no matter how harrowing the ordeal had been that Jeff would man up and tell her to leave.
"You probably need to get some rest too, Aunt Lane. You go to the hotel. Like you said, there's a police guard outside my room. I'll be fine."
Lane bent and kissed his forehead. "Your Mom's flight should get in around 11:00. I'll pick her up and we'll see you tomorrow." She wrote her cell phone number down. "The nurses and the police have my number, but I want to be sure you've got it too. Call me if you need anything before I get here."
